Hologram carrier

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a hologram carrier having a hologram surface and a reference surface to facilitate the acquisition of the hologram surface by a device. In this case, provision is made for the reference surface to comprise at least one step, which is arranged to interengage with a complementary formation on the device in order to align said device.

[0001] The present invention relates to a hologram carrier.

[0002] Holograms are suitable for storing large amounts of data in asmall space. This is advantageous if the area available is small or thedesign of a product is not to be impaired by identifying information, asis often the case in bar codes or the like.

[0003] In principle, it is known that holograms can be inscribed intopolymer materials or, if appropriate, can be embossed in by hotembossing or other processes. In this regard, reference is made, forexample, to German utility model 298 16 802.2.

[0004] Holograms of this type can readily be applied to articles inorder to accommodate a large amount of information on the latter in avery small region. For example, holograms of this type on an article canreplace the bar code which is widespread in department stores and/orinformation can be stored on packages, items of mail and the like.Paradoxically, however, one problem arises because of the small size ofthe hologram, in particular in view of the small visual contrast of theexposed and/or embossed pattern, as compared with untreated, transparentpolymer material. Reading the hologram information is consequently madesignificantly more difficult.

[0005] The object of the present invention is to specify a hologramcarrier in which the information contained in the hologram can moreeasily be found and/or introduced at the correct location.

[0006] The object of the present invention is achieved by a hologramcarrier according to the independent claim. Preferred embodiments willbe found in the subclaims.

[0007] A first aspect of the present invention therefore provides ahologram carrier having a hologram surface and a reference surface tofacilitate the acquisition of the hologram surface by a device, in whichthe reference surface comprises at least one step which is arranged tointerengage with a complementary formation on the device in order toalign said device.

[0008] A first basic idea can thus be seen in the fact that, in order toadjust a device on a hologram surface which may possibly be very small,mechanical alignment is permitted, which makes it possible, after thecarrier has been found roughly, which may readily be made possible, tobring a reader or writer into approximately the correct position andthen to perform the device alignment by means of a step interengagingwith a complementary formation on the device. If, as in the case of barcode reading pens, a device which is gripped manually is used, in thisway the high sensitivity of the fingertips can be used for thealignment.

[0009] The step may be excavated, for example in the form of anembossment and/or a punch-out. This is advantageous since, typically,the thickness of the hologram carrier will be marked by durabilityconsiderations, for example resistance to tearing, and then, typically,no additional material has to be applied for the step, increasing thethickness. In an alternative way, however, is also possible to providethe step as an elevated step. This is desirable in particular if thedevice is to be positioned very quickly and this is to be achieved bythe device being pushed over the hologram carrier as far as the step.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment, both steps and depressions can beprovided. This increases overall the available depth with which thecomplementary formation provided on the device can interengage.

[0011] It is preferable for the step to provide a level difference of atleast 0.5 mm, preferably 1 to 3 mm. Substantially smaller step heightsor depths on an uneven background, for example on corrugated paperboardof dispatch cartons, result in alignment which is only inadequate or canbe achieved only with difficulty, while a level difference of more than3 mm on typical material backgrounds no longer provides any significantadvantages.

[0012] The hologram carrier of the present invention can comprise stepswhich are formed by relief embossments, punch-outs and/or lasermachining and can therefore be produced without problems as a massproduct.

[0013] The hologram carrier will be formed, at least partially, from apolymer material. In particular, in a preferred exemplary embodiment, atleast the hologram surface will be formed of polymer material. Preferredpolymer materials are, for example, oriented PMMA and the like.

[0014] In a first preferred case, the hologram surface will constitute afree surface provided for the production of a hologram; said surface canbe inscribed by means of a reader/writer interengaging with the step orsteps. In an alternative way or additionally, the hologram surface canalso have a finished hologram, for example in order to provide a productidentification as in the case of a bar code or a verification of origin.

[0015] It is also possible to provide a plurality of hologram patternsbeside one another, of which some or at least one are/is prefabricated.Thus, for example, for package services or the like, postage informationcan be pre-coded and, after the hologram carrier has been stuck to apackage or a letter, address information can be written in, to bespecific, preferably beside the pre-inscribed hologram surface. Writingbeside the pre-inscribed hologram surface facilitates the calculation ofthe hologram pattern needed to encode the data to be stored.

[0016] The hologram carrier can be designed to be self-adhesive, inparticular self-adhesive on the rear side, in order to be affixed to anobject such as a package or another product to be identified. It shouldbe mentioned that there is the possibility, for example if a roll withseparable hologram carriers is provided, to pre-inscribe these on theroll and/or to introduce a hologram during the roll production.

[0017] The embossment can be used at the same time for alignment of apredefined rotational angle.

[0018] In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the hologram carrier willfurther have placement surfaces, on which the device can be placed onthe hologram carrier, aligned by means of the step. In particular, thesteps can be configured as trough-like depressions or block-likeelevations which, in particular, have edges falling away at leastvirtually at right angles, in order to interact with a complementaryformation penetrating them.

[0019] The steps and/or placement surfaces can be oriented and formed insuch away that a series of different readers can be aligned, to bespecific, in each case such that only individual parts of the hologrampattern or different hologram surfaces can be read.

[0020] Protection is also claimed for writers and/or readers which aredesigned for the complementary interengagement with the hologramcarrier.

[0021] The invention will be described below, merely by way of example,by using the drawing, in which:

[0022]FIG. 1 shows a hologram carrier according to the invention on abackground with a device put in place;

[0023]FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the hologram carrier;

[0024]FIG. 3 shows an arrangement of different depressions forming stepson a hologram carrier;

[0025]FIG. 4 shows examples of the different alignment of CCDs relativeto a hologram pattern AB on the basis of the complementary formationsprovided on the device to interengage with the steps of FIG. 3;

[0026]FIG. 5 shows a hologram carrier according to the present inventionwith increased data security.

[0027] According to FIG. 1, a hologram carrier 1 designated generally by1 comprises a hologram surface 2, on which a hologram is embossed, and astep 3 for alignment of a complementary formation 4 on a device 5 forreading the hologram 2.

[0028] The hologram carrier 1 is formed from transparent PMMA and, onits rear side 6 facing away from its depression 3 and the hologramsurface 2, is provided with an adhesive layer 7. The hologram carrier 1has a thickness of a total of 1 mm (not illustrated true to scale inFIG. 1), the depression 3 having a depth of 0.5 mm. The edges 3 a, 3 bof the step 3 are perpendicular to the general surface 1 a of thehologram carrier 1.

[0029] The projection 4 on the device 5 is designed for complementary,play-free interaction with the depression 3. In the region around thecomplementary formation 4, the reader 5 has supporting surfaces 8 whichare intended to rest on the regions 1 b of the hologram carrier thatsurround the depression 3. The device 5 has an internal power source 5 ain the form of an accumulator, a central controller 5 b, an LCD displaymatrix 5 c and also a laser light source 5 d and a CCD 5 e, an actuatingknob 5 f being provided in order to activate the apparatus.

[0030] The laser light source 5 d is aligned in such a way that, whenthe complementary formation 4 is inserted into the depression 3, thebeam 9 emitted by said source streams onto the hologram surface in sucha way that a pattern reproduced from the hologram, that is to say areconstructed pattern, is produced on the CCD 5 e.

[0031] The hologram carrier and the reader of the present invention areused as follows: Firstly, a hologram carrier with a prefabricatedhologram is affixed to a background by using its self-adhesive layer 7on the rear side 6.

[0032] In order to read the information, the reader 5 is then placedroughly where the carrier 1 with the depression 3 is detectably located.The complementary formation 4 of the device is then moved in thedirection of the depression 3. As soon as the user of the device 5detects that the complementary formation 4 is interengaged with thedepression 3, the knob 5 f is operated in order to excite the laserlight source 5 d, whereupon a laser light beam 9 falls on the hologram,which is very narrow and which is barely perceptible or evenimperceptible to the naked eye, in such a way that a hologram pattern isprojected onto the CCD 5 e. The hologram pattern received at the CCD 5 eis evaluated in the control and processing unit 5 b and informationbased on said pattern is displayed on the LCD matrix. As soon as theuser has read the LCD information, the device is deactivated byreleasing the knob 5 f.

[0033] It should be mentioned that the device does not necessarily haveto be operated manually and that, in particular, it is also possible tobring a reader and/or writer into interengagement with a step on ahologram carrier by machine. Furthermore, it should be pointed out thatthe hologram surface does not necessarily have to be separated from thestep; in particular, the hologram surface can be provided within adepression, for example when the recess and the hologram prefabricationare carried out by hot embossing in polymer material. It should moreoverbe mentioned that the beam geometry illustrated was selected only by wayof example and for graphical reasons.

[0034] A preferred development of the invention is illustrated in FIG.3. Here, three sets of different depressions 3 are provided on thehologram carrier 1, namely the depressions 3 _(I), 3 _(II), and thedepressions 3 _(III). Associated with each of these groups of steps is areader, in which the laser light source 5 d radiates onto the hologramsurface 2 at the same angle, but the CCD 5 e, as indicated for ahologram pattern “AB” in FIG. 4, in each case being displaced such thateither the complete hologram pattern can be acquired (case 3 _(I)) oronly a part of the same (cases 3 _(II) and 3 _(III)). Such anarrangement is expedient to prevent unauthorized persons being able toread all the information contained in the hologram; this is possibleonly with suitable readers 3 _(I). It should be pointed out that,instead of a displacement of the CCD, there are other possibilities ofpreventing all the information being read out completely by unauthorizedpersons, using coding by means of the steps.

[0035] A hologram carrier for particularly rough conditions isillustrated in FIG. 5. Here, the steps 3 on the hologram carrier 1 arearranged symmetrically and four spaced-apart hologram surfaces eachhaving identical holograms are provided. In this way, should one of thefour hologram surfaces become completely illegible, for example as aresult of impact, contamination or the like, by means of simply rotatingthe reader in a direction offset through 90° with respect to thestarting position, it is possible to ensure that the redundantlyprovided information can still readily be read. The small size of theholograms in this case allows a still small surface of the hologramcarrier to be admitted with, nevertheless, a high information content,in spite of the redundant provision of said holograms.

[0036] It should be mentioned that the step can be implemented otherthan by a depression. An elevated step can also be provided instead.

1. A hologram carrier having a hologram surface and a reference surfaceto facilitate the acquisition of the hologram surface by a device, thereference surface comprising at least one step which is arranged tointerengage with a complementary formation on the device in order toalign said device.
 2. The hologram carrier as claimed in the precedingclaim, characterized in that the step is excavated.
 3. The hologramcarrier as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in thatthe step is of elevated design.
 4. The hologram carrier as claimed inone of the preceding claims, characterized in that a plurality of stepsis provided.
 5. The hologram carrier as claimed in one of the precedingclaims, characterized in that, among the plurality of steps, bothelevations and depressions are provided.
 6. The hologram carrier asclaimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that steps witha level difference of at least 0.5 mm, preferably 1 to 3 mm, areprovided.
 7. The hologram carrier as claimed in one of the precedingclaims, characterized in that the step is implemented by means of arelief embossment.
 8. The hologram carrier as claimed in one of thepreceding claims, characterized in that the step comprises a punch-out.9. The hologram carrier as claimed in one of the preceding claims,characterized in that it is formed at least partly from a polymermaterial.
 10. The hologram carrier as claimed in one of the precedingclaims, characterized in that the hologram surface is formed frompolymer material.
 11. The hologram carrier as claimed in one of thepreceding claims, characterized in that the hologram surface comprisesan area provided for the production of a hologram.
 12. The hologramcarrier as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in thatthe hologram surface has a region with a finished hologram.
 13. Thehologram carrier as claimed in one of the preceding claims,characterized in that it is configured to be self-adhesive.
 14. Thehologram carrier as claimed in one of the preceding claims,characterized in that the rear side is designed to be self-adhesive. 15.The hologram carrier as claimed in one of the preceding claims,characterized in that the reference surface comprises placement surfaceson which the device can be placed on the hologram carrier, aligned bymeans of the at least one step.
 16. The hologram carrier as claimed inone of the preceding claims, characterized in that the device is awriter.
 17. The hologram carrier as claimed in one of the precedingclaims, characterized in that there is a large number of different stepswhich are arranged for the purpose of positioning a plurality ofdevices, in particular for reading and/or writing different information.18. A hologram reader having an arrangement for acquiring a hologramsurface on a hologram carrier, with a formation for interengaging with acomplementary formation arranged on the hologram carrier for the purposeof device alignment.